Monday, February 5, 2018

MiniForce Rangers - LUCY THE FOX!

MiniForce is a Korean animated show starring four cute chibi-type animal heroes - Volt the Squirrel (Blue), Max the Beaver (Yellow), Lucy the Fox (Pink), and Sammy the Owl (Red). When they jump into action, there is a transformation sequence when they become human-like Rangers. When their Ranger skills aren't enough, their weapons can transform into Force Weapons. When that's not enough, they dispatch their Force Cars which race to the rescue. When the cars aren't enough, each car transforms into a Force Bot (in whose heads the Rangers are tiny pilots). When the robot fighting skills aren't enough, they can unleash these unique powered up weapons - Force Flash, Force Jet, Force Ring, etc - often requiring a combination of effort. Speaking of combinations, the Force Bots pair off to combine into Sammy-Lucy-Tron and Volt-Max-Tron. And predictably, these two can combine into the ultimate Force Giantron. It's a nesting doll of Eastern genres in an 11-minute preschool show and it's amazing.

This toy is for the Ranger-Form Lucy. There are also toys of her Force Bot and animal forms (but this one is the best!)

This figure is very nicely articulated. I expected it to be decent, but I was surprised to find it more like a high-end Japanese figure than a standard Bandai-USA Ranger figure. Almost every joint has a ball joint or hinge-and-swivel. But the sculpt of the figure really hinders the range of motion. The pink kneepads, shoulderpads, and bootstrap in particular. Her wrist joints are extremely loose, but everything else is nice and tight.

Look at that crazy Force Weapon!
It's four separate accessories, but you can see how it's supposed to be the same item in different configurations.

The discrepancy between the animal characters and their Ranger Forms is kind of startling.

Here is a picture of Lucy's Force Bot.

The robots are a little too "car-like" for me with each of them having a grill and hood for a chest and car doors for shoulders.

There are so many cool characters in the series that I would love to see toys of. I know this is impossible since the show hasn't been in production for years. But maybe it will get really popular on Netflix and inspire new product (like Super Wings did!)

Here is Violet the Skunk. She was ostracized and bullied by her skunk friends because she smelled like flowers. Her anger was manipulated by the bad guys and she became a misunderstood villain seeking revenge on the skunks.

Here is Ipas the Black Cat. She was a reluctant spy for the bad guys being blackmailed to infiltrate the MiniForce team at their home.

Queen Iguana. A powerful stranger hunting the MiniForce over a misunderstanding over a missing egg.

And here is Anna the Bunny. Anna is a friend to the MiniForce, and kind of acts like a Lieutenant to the leader Commander Chen. She trains the MiniForce when they first get their Ranger suits.